


The Knight and The Sorcerer

by QueenLawyer



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, I hope everyone enjoys this, Magic, Swearing, Violence, YGOBB, its the first big bang i ever wrote and im pretty proud of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25915864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenLawyer/pseuds/QueenLawyer
Summary: Joey spent most of his life looking out for just himself and his sister, but when he meets a young sorcerer in the woods, the knight has to decide whether or not to care for others.Or a fantasy au based around the early manga/ season 0
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler & Mutou Yuugi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15
Collections: Yu-Gi-Oh! Big Bang 2020





	The Knight and The Sorcerer

Joey took his sweet time heading to Hirutani. He may have orders to report to him for some reason, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be as annoying as he possibly could. He was excited when he first was assigned to be under Hirutani’s, how could he not be? That dude seemed rad as hell! He had one of the biggest squadrons of soldiers! And for a knight with basically no experience like him to be brought on? It was almost unheard of. Apparently he’d seen his training and was impressed enough to take him on.

So imagine his dismay when he realized what an absolute  _ shithead _ that Hirutani was. 

The way he treated his troops, it was despicable! Recklessly sending the most experienced out into the front lines on the toughest fights, picking fights and then letting his men take the fall for it, picking on the weak and defenceless.

But Joey couldn’t really do much about it, as much as he hated the prick. He was ranked incredibly low, only having been a knight for a few years now. And he couldn’t even transfer out! Apparently Hirutani had taken an interest in him. Probably cause he hadn’t managed to kill him in the first week. 

But it should never be said that Joey Wheeler is going to take anything sitting down! If there’s nothing big he can do without being, y’know killed, he’s going to be as annoying as he possibly could. And he could be real fucking annoying if he wants to. So if he just happens to miss hear some orders, oh well, what could be done. If they are hunting after being in the woods for so long, it’s not as if he could help it if he was too loud and scared away Hirutani’s game. He’s a klutz, he can’t help it. If he accidentally advises to take a path that makes it take twice as long to get to their destination, it’s hardly as if he could be blamed. It’s not as if anyone knows he lived in that neighborhood for a few years. And if they did, none of the other knights were particularly interested in mentioning it. 

Still. Not as satisfying as clocking the bastard in the face. 

Joey walked into the test where Hirutani had set up a desk, for him to look all proud and arrogant. He was dressed out of armor, boots propped up on the desk, and had that smug, smarmy grin across this face. “Wheeler, just the man I was looking for.”   


“Yeah? What do ya need, your tent cleaned out, because EW does it smell like the pits in here.”   


“Ha ha, very funny Wheeler. I have a special task, just for you. I need you to do some little tracking for me. There’s no point in everyone marching out. So I want you to travel for a while until you find something not worthless, and then report back to me.”   


“You want me to head out alone in the woods? The monster infested woods? By myself?”

“Yeah, what are you  _ scared _ Wheeler?” 

“And what if I say no thanks.”

Hirutani got to his feet, suddenly furious. “Do you think that you could ever get anywhere without my help? Your father is your town’s laughingstock, can’t spend a day without drowning himself in beer. He was kicked out of every place he’s ever lived in, because he couldn’t spend a single coin on anything but gambling and beer.”

“Watch it,” Joey growled.    


“And your mother, she didn’t even want you. How pathetic could you possibly be?”

Joey let out a scream of rage, and grabbed Hirutani by the collar. He was seeing red, he knew he was going to pay for saying that, but his future be damned. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t clock you right now!”

But Hirutani just smiled. “Oh, because I can make your life a living hell if you do, Wheeler. You’ll do nothing but clean the horses’ poop for the rest of your life. But, I see that you are a man worth so much more than that. I’ll give you a promotion, if you are successful. How does lieutenant sound?”   


Joey was breathing heavily, and his blood pumped in his ears. But the words got through. A promotion. A promotion meant a higher pay. And he needed that money. Oh, he so needed that money. He could pay off all of his dad’s debts, he could actually afford to buy some new threads, he could… He could help his sister.

He had no choice. 

He let go of his clothes and leaned back. “Fine. But I’m taking Tristan with me.”

Hirutani narrowed his eyes, “That’s not your decision.”

“Well, it’s not exactly yours either,  _ sir _ .” Joey’s voice was positively dripping with sarcasm as he spat out sir. “He’s a merc, he can do whatever the hell he wants. I’ll drop by and then we’re heading out.” Without waiting to hear any response, he stormed out of the tent. 

* * *

“So. Where did you exactly get the bright idea to piss off Hirutani? Do you have any restraint?”

Joey lightly punched Tristin in the arm. “Yeah, I have restraint. I just choose not to use it.”

“Um, I’m pretty sure that’s a huge load of bullshit. Remember when you picked a fight when that one dude refused to sell you those shoes?” They both laughed, leaning on each other to stay upright. But then Joey stopped. He could hear something strange in the distance. It sounded dark, dangerous, and definitely inhuman. But there was also something else strange about the noise. It sounded, almost familiar. Like it was a long-lost friend. 

“Wait shut it. Did you hear that?” 

“Hear what?” Tristan shot Joey a look. “It’s only been like an hour and you're already losing my mind.”

“But there was a-” he was sure he heard something, but maybe Tristin had a point. “Nevermind. When are we going to get some food? I’m starving.”

“We just got going, we don’t need to… and what are you doing.”

Joey looked up from where he was grabbing fistfuls of mushrooms. “What does it look like I’m doing, doofus?”

“Well, it looks like you're going to die from eating a shit-ton of  _ very poisonous _ mushrooms.”

“AAAH!” Joey jumped away from the pile of mushrooms, threw the ones that he was holding and stomped on them.

“Yeah that’ll show them. Come one, I think I see some non poisonous berries a little further up.” They shoved the berries in one of Tristan’s bags and snacked on them for a while. 

“But seriously dude, what exactly did you do to him? You guys have been at each other's throats for a while now. You had to do something to him.”

Joey growled, “Nothing that dick didn’t deserve. And hey, I only threatened to punch him once so far.”

“...Dude.”

“What? Come on, the dudes a dick? Don’t act like you're not just as bad as me, Tristan.”

“Ok one, I am not as bad as you because I was never stupid enough to actually threaten punch the guy. And two, I’m not under him, I’m a merc. I can just leave anytime I want.”

“Hey loo-” Suddenly the low growl traveled through the air again. “Did you hear that?” 

“Hear what?”

“The growling, it happened again!”   


Tristan pushed him, “Dude, stop messing around, there’s nothing growling.”   


“I’m telling you that there’s something there!”

Tristan rolled his eyes, “There’s nothing there! You’re just para- wait.” His face went from teasing to instantly serious, as he quietly grabbed his crossbow and loaded it. “There’s something there.”

Joey nodded, and then started to pull his sword, but then suddenly there were fangs baring at his throat. He dropped the sword handle in order to grab the wolf around the throat. The spit flew into his eyes as he tried to stop the fangs from sinking into him. He pushed away the wolf and then socked it in the face. He grabbed his sword, pulled it out of the scabbard, and arced it towards the wolf.

Only for it to let out a howl and flop dead on the floor, with an arrow from Tristan’s crossbow piercing it. “Hey, I would have got it!”

“Um, what about a thank you?”

Behind Tristan, a pair of eyes flashed, as the beast pounced towards his turned back. Joey lunged and plunged his sword into the wolf and flashed Tristan a smile. “Your welcome.”

The two of them worked as a team, moving fluidly with a certain grace only the most skilled fighters have. They seem to dance around each other, Joey swinging his sword in large arcs, Tristan shooting with pinpoint accuracy, later bringing out his hunting knives when he ran out of arrows. They play off each other as only people who have fought together for years.

But there were only the two of them, they were starting to get overwhelmed. As Joey swung at one of the beasts, another lunged and tackled him, and the sword escaped from his hand. He heard Tristan shout his name as he fell down into a small clearing. He managed to roll to his feet but he was surrounded by four of the wolves and was without a weapon. He still had his shield, but that could only help him for so long. He blocked one of the wolves, but another jumped him and pinned him down to the ground. There was nothing he could do to stop them. 

And then it happened again. A low, otherworldly growl echoed through the woods, and a chill went down his spine. The wolves whimpered and ran off with their tails between their legs. Joey turned around to try to see whatever creature could have made that sound. He whipped around to see…

Nothing. Just an empty looking forest. He groaned and layed back down on the grass. He looked up at the sky. The sky was starting to dim, and stars were beginning to appear. Then there was a black void that passed over them.

Wait _what?_

Joey jerked up to stare at the void, that now he was looking at it, he could tell that it wasn’t a void at all. In fact, the void seemed to be in the shape of a dragon. Joey stared at the dragon in awe, feeling some strange pull towards the dragon. Perhaps the dragon felt it as well, as his heads turned towards Joey, flashing his blood-red eye towards him. And then just as soon as the dragon appeared, he was gone. 

“Joey!” He turned around to see Tristan running after him, worry etched on his face, but then his face changed to be exasperated. “I was all worried for you, and you were just laying here?”   


Tristan helped him up as Joey started to look around. “Did you see it?”

“See what?”

“What do you mean what? The dragon! There was a dragon! It was just flying!”

Tristan gave him a concerned look, “Did you hit your head?”

“Oh, fuck off man. There was a dragon here, it was huge!” Joey waved his hands angrily in the air, as he got more angry. “I saw it, I didn’t bump my head, it was there!”

“Uh-huh. And what did this ‘dragon’ look like?”

Joey mumbled something. “Hmm? What was that?”

“...It was black.”

Tristan just raised his eyebrow.

“There was also a red-eye.”   


“Are you sure it wasn’t like, oh I don’t know, Mars maybe?”   


“Hey-”

A scream in the distance cut them off, small and terrified. Then it was unnervingly quiet for a while. 

“Alright,” Tristan spoke up, “you go have fun and play hero for a while. I’m gonna get my arrows. Don’t get lost.”   


“Haha, real funny. You sure you’ll be able to catch up?”

“You are literally the easiest person to track ever. You walk so heavily.”   


“Yeah ok, whatever.” With that, Joey headed towards the direction of the scream, and Tristan headed back towards the wolves. Joey walked through the woods for a while, nothing significant happening. Just a few miles of woods and tree roots that he kept tripping over. But after a while he started hearing a low, gruff voice. He quickly headed over there. A huge man was pinning some small child to a tree. He couldn’t really see the child, as the large man was blocking his view. 

“You and your precious grandpa owe me money squirt. I’ve been protecting your precious home for some time now, Muto. You wouldn’t want anyone to find out about it, would you?” He shook the kid, trying to scare him.

“P-please, I don’t- I’m sorry-”

“Hey!” Joey stepped closer to them and brandished his sword at him. “Release him, by the name of King Pegasus!” 

The large man gave him an incredulous look, but dropped the child. “Alright, but I’ll be back, Muto.”

He then left them, letting Joey see the child for the first time. Which, now that he could see him, he could tell it wasn’t really a child. A halfling sat there, probably somewhere around his age, wearing a large dark blue cloak with a staff , looking around frantically with his wide, purple eyes. But that was far from the strangest thing about him. The weirdest part about him was his hair. Black hair with a red outline was somehow shaped like a star, and he had the weirdest, angular bangs hanging down his face. 

“Damn it. I wanted to fight that guy. You ok?”

The stranger brushed his bangs out of his eyes and breathed heavily for a moment, before getting up. “Hel-hello. I’m fine. Um, thank you, sir.”   


Joey just gave a loud laugh. “Oh, please don’t call me sir. I’m just-”   


“Joey!” He was cut off by Tristan as he came up to them. “What’s going on?”

“Hey Tristan, this is, uhh… hey what’s your name? That guy said Muto, I think?”

“It’s Yugi actually.”

“Yugi was getting bullied by some asshole, so I swooped in to save him. You’re welcome.”

“Hmmm. Sure. And who exactly was bothering you kid?” Tristan asked.   


Yugi blinked for a moment. “I’m not a kid? I’m eighteen?”   


“Really, but you’re so short!” 

“Yeah, I’m just a halfling. We’re all short.”

Joey interrupted their banter, “But seriously, who was that ass?”

“Oh that was Ushio. He’s been bothering-“

“Ushio!” Tristan suddenly jumped in. “You’re working with Ushio!”

“We’re not working with him! He just kinda showed up one day, and kind of just demanded that we let him protect us!”

Tristan’s suspicion seemed to grow, “Just showed up, huh?”

Oblivious to his suspicion, Yugi kept explaining, “Yeah, and now we’re just stuck with it, I guess. But don’t worry about us, we’re fine! Do you guys have a place to stay the night? It’s starting to get dark.” 

“Don’t worry about us Yugi!” Joey brandished his sword dramatically towards the sky and Tristan rolled his eyes. “We can fight off any danger!”

“But… what about all of the monsters?”

Suddenly Joey dropped his sword with a start, “Mon-MONSTERS? What do ya mean, monsters!”

“Well this deep in the woods, especially  _ these _ woods, there’s plenty of monsters! But they’ve been getting much more dangerous than usual at night.” 

“We can’t stay here!” Joey grabbed Tristan by the shoulders and shook him. “We have to get out of here!”

“Oh!” They both turned to look at Yugi, who was practically glowing with how happy he looked. “You should come to my place! It’s not too far, and it’s magically protected!” 

Tristan opened his mouth to say something, but was immediately cut off by Joey. “Hell yeah! Thanks Yug!” Yugi broke into a smile while Tristan face-palmed out of their sight.

* * *

“Aaaaand what the fuck.” They had trudged through the woods a little while until they had come across a clearing, filled with the weirdest assortment of tents, multiple different colors and the weirdest shapes. Strange, blinking lights floated through the air, like little fairies. A glowing set of weird letters that neither of Joey or Tristan have ever seen.

“We’re here! This is my home!”

They stopped to stare at the tiny sorcerer. “I’m sorry, but you live here?” Joey interrupted. “In the middle of fucking nowhere in magic land?”

“Well, technically my grandpa runs it. I just help out with it and you know, live here and stuff.” Yugi grips his staff, his knuckles turning white. “It’s just been me and him out here… alone… Wait!”   


They turn to look at him, Tristan’s eyebrows raised in annoyance, “What?”

“Have you ever been cursed, been descended from a cursed party, or carry any magical items that may have ill intent?”

They shared a look of  _ can you believe this weirdo _ and then Joey answered with a “Uh, no?”

“Yeah. Ok, you should be fine.” And then Yugi just turned around and walked away, like that wasn’t the weirdest and most off-putting thing he could have said.

“It’s probably going to be sundown soon, and of course you guys are allowed to stay the night. I mean imagine being out in the woods now, hahaha…”

“Now?” Tristan walked over to Yugi and bent down close to his face. “What’s wrong with now? Hiding something from us, are ya?”

Yugi just had a look of utter bafflement cross over his face. “No? I’m not- I wouldn’t- you haven’t noticed it?”

“Noticed what?”

“The monsters, they’ve gotten stronger lately. They’re more dangerous and they aren’t acting like they are supposed to. It’s getting close to the summer solstice, so they should actually be calming down. But they’re not… me and Gramps haven’t been able to figure it out… Oh gods, I’m boring you aren’t I. You don’t care about boring stuff like this I’m so sorry! Let me show you around!”

Joey and Tristan exchanged wary looks behind his back, but Yugi doesn’t seem to notice. He leads them to one of the tents, a gold and green one in the middle, the largest out of all of the tents, attracting the most attention. “This is the Kame Game Shop!”

“A shop?” Joey glanced around, looking incredibly confused. “But Yug, there’s no one here!”   


Yugi blushed a bit, maybe at the observation, maybe at the new nickname. “Yeah I know. A friend of mine takes some of our toys to the market to sell them. But we kind of went into hiding a few centuries ago and yeah. But our family always did stuff with games… so we just kind of kept making them.”   


Yugi led them inside of his shop and brought them forth into the tent. The two of them were stopped pretty quickly though, due to the total awe they felt after entering the tent. The place was filled, floor to ceiling with toys and games of all types. Enchanted games floated in the air, figurines of dolls and fairies flying on their own. Decks of cards were all over the place, glowing with a weird, magical light. A game of chess in the corner had pieces that were alive and seemed to be fighting themselves. The whole place was covered with games and toys like these. Despite the incredibly large tent, it was hard to see the floor, with the massive amount of games with no place. The shelves were stuffed and then stuffed some more. There were stacks of games that led up to the ceiling. Everywhere you looked, there was a new game to be found.

“Holy shit.” Tristan quickly elbowed Joey in the side to try to get him to shut up, but Joey didn’t exactly know when to stop talking. “What? There’s a lot of games in here! That’s fu- mmph.” 

Tristan slapped a hand over his mouth and gave Yugi a placating smile. “I’m sorry for this idiot here. He never learned how to  _ shut his mouth _ . Ew! Did you actually just lick me!?”

Joey stuck out his tongue at him. “I absolutely learned, I just choose to ignore it.”

“I-it’s fine… it’s just that we can’t really sell our things… with the magical ban and everything… but we never really stopped.” 

At this, Yugi looked incredibly sad, and for some strange reason, Joey wanted him to stop looking so down. “Hey, um, how does this game work Yug?” He pointed to a random game, with a checkered-board and some sort of container containing egg-like containers.    


Yugi’s entire face brightened up. “Oh, that’s a game called capsule monsters! It’s a two player game, do either of you want to try it out?”  
Tristan threw his hands up in an I surrender type position and shrugged. “No thanks, you kids have fun with that.” 

Joey shrugged and said, “I’m game for it. How do you play?”   


Yugi lit up like the sun as he explained all the games mechanics and how they worked, and the different possible strategies you could play. It was like he managed to unlock an entirely new person. Gone was the anxious, shy person that Yugi was before, and in his place was an excitable, smiling, geek. His hands moved excitedly as he explained the game. 

“Oh! And one more thing before we pick our characters!” Yugi’s hand moved to the side of the game board and hit a switch. Then mountains arose from the game itself and rivers sprouted into existence. 

“Yo! What the shit! How’d you do that?” 

Yugi smiled, “The game has been charmed to be able to come up with the different terrains. Anyone can do it actually, just push this button here.”

“Anyone?” Tristan cocked his eyebrow. “Why go through all that trouble?”

“Well we want for anyone to be able to play it! It would suck if you bought the game but weren’t able to play it.”

“Ugh can we just play already, Yug!”

They played, putting their characters on the board and starting the game. Joey managed to get some pretty high level monsters, but Yugi’s obvious skill immediately shown through as Yugi made quick work of drawing Joey’s monsters into traps where he could easily get rid of them. This continued pretty quickly until Joey lost all of his monsters.

“Ugh!”   


“Ha! Dude you didn’t even last ten minutes! You got totally destroyed!”   


“Yeah, _I noticed Tristan_.”

“Wow man, you really suck.”

Yugi laughed, “Sorry, I’ve been playing games with this basically my entire life.”   


“Playing? With who?”

Yugi blushed and nervously moved his fingers up and down his staff. “Mainly just me and Grandpa. There just really isn’t anyone around anymore.” He looked down at the floor looking sad. But then he looked up with a smile. “But that’s not important! Let me show you around a bit!” And that he stood up and moved as fast as his short legs allowed out of the tent.

Joey started to head out the door, but Tristan grabbed his arm. “What do you think of him?”

“Yug? I don’t know, he’s just a nerdy dork. He’s harmless.”   


Tristan narrowed his eyes, “I don’t trust him, he’s hiding something I’m sure of it.”   


Joey shrugged him off and headed outside, “You’re just paranoid. Not everyone is out to get you, stop being such an ass.”   


Tristan rolled his eyes and followed Joey outside, to see Yugi standing awkwardly waiting for them.

“You guys took a while! I was starting to get worried!” He then led them around that tent to another tent, a red tent that had smoke coming out of the top of it. Connected to it was an identical looking tent but instead was green. “Here’s the workshop where we make all of our games! Hold on let me see if Grandpa is in there!” He swept into the tent and a few moments later he came out of the tent with someone who looked like an older version of Yugi. He even had the same hair style, though his hair was all gray instead of the multicolored thing Yugi had going on, and hidden under a bandana. His clothes were much more normal looking, and much less punk than Yugi’s. 

“New guests? It’s been a real long time since we had any people around, hoho! And such fine looking gentlemen too!” With that he sent an incredibly obvious wink towards Yugi. Yugi’s face immediately turned beat-red and he turned angrily. “Grandpa!”

“What?” Despite trying to sound innocent, Yugi’s grandpa sounded anything but he looked anything but. “I’m just welcoming all your friends. Do you want me to be a bad host?” He placed his hand on his chest dramatically.

“Ugh!” Yugi reached out to grab Joey’s hand, but then he nervously pulled back. “I’m gonna show them my tents alright?” He started to walk towards another tent, Joey and Tristan followed him. 

The tent he was heading towards was dark blue, and had sigils sewed into gold. It pulsed with a sort of strange power. They headed into the tent to see a space unlike any that they have seen so far. It didn't have nearly the same natural light coming through, but instead had small floating fires giving the room light. Leather-bound tomes filled the room, there were shelves filled with potion ingredients, and a large cauldron sat on the floor. A large desk was in the middle, completely covered with a scattering of notes, books, potion ingredients, a couple games, and a bunch of mystic looking stuff. In the middle of the desk was a box, clear from all of the clutter. The size of the box was nothing remarkable, about the size of a brick. But what was interesting about the box was that it looked as if it was made entirely out of gold. Not only was it gold, but it had some hieroglyphics etched all over the box, as well as a piercing eye, right in the middle. 

Joey went over to the box, leaning down to grab it. “Hey what’s thi-” 

“DON’T TOUCH THAT!” Suddenly, Yugi leaped across the room to throw himself over the box, and then held it close to his chest. Then he stopped and realized what he just did, and turned beet-red. “Sorry,” he placed the box back onto the table. “Sorry, I just- sorry. It’s just, this is really  _ really _ important to me. I can’t let anything happen to it, it’s literally the most precious thing I own, but not because it’s made of gold or anything. It’s- I made a wish on it, and I really want it to come true.”

Joey gave Yugi a questioning look, “Alright, but what even is it?”   


Yugi looked down at his box, clenched around his hands. He gave a small, hesitant smile, “Alright, but be careful. It’s  _ very _ important to me.”

He opened the box to reveal that it was filled with gold, of all different shapes and sizes. Yugi picked up a couple pieces, and smiled. “It’s something you see, but you haven’t seen! It’s a puzzle, but even I don’t know what it is!”   


Joey was smiling up at Yugi, “Oh, that cool, I guess. But what’s with all of that?” He pointed at the hieroglyphics on the box.    


“Oh, it’s actually from Egypt! When my Grandpa was  _ way _ younger, he used to be an archaeologist! He knows more than anyone about ancient games than anyone! Anyways, he found this ages ago, and I found this buried upon a bunch of junk a few years ago and I've been trying to solve it since! Oh, and look at this here!” He pointed to an inscription close to the eye on the box. “It says here that whoever solves it, it’s wish will be granted!”

“Woah, any wish!” Joey, suddenly looked thrilled, and Tristan rolled his eyes. “Dude, what’d you wish for?” 

Yugi turned and winked at him, “Nope, it’s a super secret, under lock and key, and magically-sealed! You won’t get me to tell you!” 

“Ugh! Come on, just say it!”   


“Nope, no way!”

Tristan smirked at Joey, “What, are gonna make him wish that your dragon is real?”   


Joey slammed his hands down on the table. “Hey! I saw a dragon, I’m telling you!”

Yugi perked up, “A dragon? Did you actually see a dragon?”

“Oh, look who believes me,  _ Tristan _ . Yes, I saw a dragon, and it was huge and ferocious!”

Yugi waved his staff at a stack of books. A book wiggled a little out of the stack, but only got about a third out before it stopped moving. He mumbled “come on” under his breath, and waved his staff more insistently. The book flew out of the stack and right into Yugi’s face.

“Ow. _Really?”_ He placed the book on the desk and flipped through a couple faces. As he turned the pages, they saw pictures of dragons. Huge beasts with enormous wings, terrifying claws, deadly teeth. “Do you recognize any of these as your creature?

“Hmm,” Joey flipped through the book, “No, no, wow that one looks real old, no, no, oh that one’s pretty, no ,no- wait here it is! This is what I saw I’m sure of it!” Joey had opened to a page featuring a deadly looking dragon, with layers of teeth, covered in sharp spines, a completely jet black. Well, not quite completely. The eyes were the only thing not black, as the eyes shined red as blood.

“You saw red-eyes? The red-eyes black dragon? You're sure this is the right dragon?”

“Yes I’m sure it’s the right dragon! It wasn’t even that long ago, I’m telling ya, this is what I saw! This dragon!”

“Woah.” Tristan leaned down at the book. “Ok, if you aren’t hallucinating, that’s really fucking cool, it looks rad as hell.”  
“I know, right?”

“Wait you guys don’t understand!” They both turned towards a worked-up Yugi, “This dragon isn’t just any dragon! It hasn’t been seen in centuries! It’s legendary! I think it might even be the most powerful dragon ever!”

“Wait, it's that powerful? That’s awesome!” 

“You couldn’t have seen it then Joey. You’re not lucky enough to see something that cool.” Tristan joked as he nudged his shoulder.

Joey deflated a little, “Yeah, that’s true.”

Light entered their tent as Yugi’s grandpa stepped in, “Dinner is almost ready, if you boys want any.”

“Hell yeah, food! I’ve been dying over here! Lay it on me, gramps!” Joey then ran out of the tent, towards the smell of food, with Tristan close behind him. 

The tent opening closed as they left and Solomon turned towards his grandson. “Yugi are you doing alright?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be doing alright?”   


Solomon sighed and looked at his grandson, “I know that it’s been hard on you to be apart from the world for so long. It’s not fair for you to be so far from away from people. And then suddenly these guys just show up? I just want to make sure that you are doing alright.”   


“I’m  _ fine _ grandpa. Nothing’s wrong.”   


“It’s just you don’t really know anyone else your age other than Téa, and she hasn’t been able to visit in a while-”

“Grandpa.”

“And then these guys are here, and I know that you’re nervous about it, and I don’t want you to get hurt-”

“Grandpa! It’s fine don’t worry about me. I’m not gonna get hurt or anything, and we’re getting along alright! Come on, let’s get dinner already.”

* * *

“Wow this is great!” They were sitting around a fire, eating the meal that Yugi’s grandpa has cooked up, and Joey and Tristan were shoveling it in their mouths as if they haven’t eaten in months. “You should quit all of this weird magic shit and open a restaurant!”   


Tristan then punched Joey in the arm and mumbled aggressively, “Hey, don’t be an asshole, dude.”

Yugi’s grandpa gave out a great laugh, “No, no don’t you worry about my feelings, I’m an old man I can take it. I’m honored, don’t worry.”

“So Yugi,” Tristan said, looking to change the topic, “How long have you been working on your puzzle thing.”

Yugi’s grandpa had a start and looked at Yugi, “You’re still working on that thing? Yugi, it’s not-”

“Of course I’m still working on it! I haven’t finished it yet!”   


“Yugi it’s been eight years!”

At that exact moment, Joey was taking a drink, and immediately did a spit take, “Eight years! Holy shit dude!”

“You’re been working on it that long? Don’t you get bored of it!” Tristan snorted. “I’d probably get bored after twenty minutes.”

Yugi’s grandfather smiled at Yugi, “No, he’s too much like me, too stubborn and deadly curious. He’ll be as old as me and still working on it.”

“No way! I think I’m starting to even make a bit of progress.”

“What’s so hard about the thing anyway. I mean, yeah, it looks hard and shit, but like eight years worth?”    


“Oh it’s more than that.” Yugi’s grandpa said. “Not only is the puzzle incredibly difficult, especially with no one knowing what shape it’s supposed to be, but it even works against you, finding ways to take back your progress.”

“What! It’s alive?” Joey shouted, looking horrified.

“No one quite knows for sure. It might be, or maybe it’s something else entirely. All that is really known is that it is said that whoever completes the puzzle will gain dark, ancient power.”   


Joey and Tristan huddled together shivering, but Yugi on the other hand looked thrilled, wearing an ecstatic smile, “That means my wish will come true! Yes!” 

Solomon chuckled and shook his head, “Oh, Yugi, never change.”

* * *

Yugi and his grandpa had set them up in a tent with some hammocks for them to sleep on. But yet, Joey couldn’t seem to be able to fall asleep. He tossed and turned in worry. He still needed to return with something, he couldn’t afford to return empty handed. He wasn’t really worried about himself, but his sister… She needs help. He had some time to figure things out, but he can’t risk Hirutani doing anything to her. He knows Hirutani well enough to know that he’d follow through on his threats. But if he did, Serenity is at risk of losing her vision completely. He can’t let that happen, he won’t.

However, he still had no idea how to do that. Was he just gonna wander the woods forever until he found something? He can’t do that, what would Hirutani do if he took too long? Plus, that sounds really boring. But he needed something. So that just left…

He got up and looked in the direction of Yugi’s work-tent. He said he sleeps in a different tent, so it should be fine. That puzzle that he’s been working on should be enough to deal with Hirutani. He didn’t even need the whole thing, just a portion would even work. He’s been working on it for eight years, he couldn’t miss one little piece… 

He got up, and snuck out of the tent, and walked towards where the puzzle was waiting for him. He felt bad for the kid, but he would do anything for his sister. He left, his heart heavy with guilt.

* * *

The next morning, Yugi watched Joey and Tristan leave, feeling something sharp in his chest. It was… nice to be able to talk to people. Y’know, that’s not his grandpa. Yeah, there is Téa, but it had always felt as if she kinda just tolerated him. But it was different around Joey. Tristan too, but especially Joey. But now he left. He watched them walk into the distance, until they faded into the treeline. 

He sighed, looking off into the distance. He couldn’t explain it, but it felt like there was some reason that they were meant to meet up. That, as ridiculous as it sounds, that it was fate for them to meet up. Yugi knew that he was being a little ridiculous. There was nothing really special about him, he knew that. Well, except maybe his hair. But still, there’s nothing really remarkable about him. His spellcasting still wasn’t very good, and besides games and puzzles, he wouldn’t be called smart.

But despite all of that, he can’t help but feel as if there was something there, something connecting them in the future. He could always hope at least. Hope that Joey would come back one day. If nothing else, he would be less lonely. 

For now, he stared where they disappeared, long after they headed out, until he went to go help his grandpa.

* * *

Meanwhile, Joey and Tristan were heading back to the camp, and the puzzle weighed heavily in his pouch. He shouldn’t of took it, he’s going to destroy this kid. But then his mind goes to his sister. He would do anything for her, she was his everything to him. But what would she say to him? She’d be so pissed at him. But, wouldn’t it be worth it? It’s not just anyone, it’s his sister. He cares more for her than anyone. More than his mom who won’t even give him the time of day, and definitely not his dad. He would do anything for her, but would she hate him for this? It’s not like it’s the first impulsive thing he’s ever done, but she cares  _ so much _ for people-

“Dude, you in there?”   


Joey’s head jerked towards Tristan with a start. “Huh, what?”   


“You haven’t said anything for a while. I thought maybe you were broken. I haven’t heard you not talk for that long since we met.”

“Nah man, I’m just... thinking.”   


“Don’t strain yourself. It must be painful to use the muscle with no use.”   


“Hey!”   


Tristan laughed and Joey joined, but then Tristan looked thoughtfully forward, “Should we really be heading back? You said Hirutani seemed pretty serious.”

All traces of laughter left Joey’s face and he looked towards the ground, before flashing a smile at Tristan, “Nah, don’t worry about it. I got it covered.”  
Tristan raised a suspicious eyebrow at him, “How?”

Here Joey flashed a cocky grin, “I took one of the pieces of the puzzle that Yugi had. Probably useless, but it’ll be enough to trick idiots like Hirutani.”   


Tristan shared a smile with him, “And here I thought you were all hooked up on the kid? You were just as suspicious as me, weren't you?”

“No, I don’t have a stick that far up my ass.”   


They both laughed at that, but their laughter was cut off as they neared the camp again. A huge monstrous roar tore through the forest. The earth trembled beneath their feet, and birds flew from the trees. Terror floated through the two of them as they were almost petrified by their fear. 

“Please tell me you heard it this time!” Joey yelled at Tristan. He didn’t respond, just looked forward and nodded mutely. 

Joey physically shook his body and then started to run in the direction of the roar, “Come on Tristan, let’s go!” 

Tristan followed despite the fact he wanted very much to go in the direction away from the roar. He could be heard muttering, “impulsive dumbass” and “reckless asshole” if anyone was around to hear, but Joey was already sprinting towards the sound.

They arrived, sword drawn and arrows knocked, but the battle had already been won. The men stood, battered and victorious, with Hirutani at the lead, with a vicious grin on his face. But what they were victorious of, now that was a sight to behold. 

It was a dragon. No, not a dragon, _the_ dragon. When Joey saw the beast before, it was a short glimpse, and he wasn’t able to truly see. But the dragon was unlike anything he’s ever seen. It’s scales were black as the darkest shadow, razor sharp spines, and the teeth glinted, sharp and dangerous. It’s eye glowed red, and though Joey couldn’t see where it was looking, he felt it looking at him. Not only that, there was something more to it, something indescribable, something powerful. 

But Hirutani and his thugs have done something unspeakable to the poor creature. Much of its spines were broken, scales missing, the chains clearly were hurting the dragon, and they had just rigged a muzzle onto it, trapping its jaws shut. Hirutani stood in front of it, leaned down and sneered at it, then kicked it. He was about to say something but looked up to see Joey and Tristan.    


“Well, well. You girls have fun out there? When you were off in La-La land, we hunted a  _ dragon _ . Look at this thing! With this, the King is sure to be finally pleased with us. Gods above, could you be any more useless?”

“Yeah we could-” 

Joey was cut off as Tristain hurriedly grabbed his arm. “Sorry sir, we’ll be more help next time.”

“Are you gonna-”

“Huh? Oh yes, that I won’t bother your sister for now. I can’t say the same for this dragon though.” He sneered and sliced the dragon on an already open wound. A horrible noise came from the dragon, unable to truly get out due to the muzzle. “We’ll cut it up soon when more men are out of the medic tent, but for now you’re on shit duty Wheeler.”   


Joey glared at him, but went off to go find a shovel. Hirutani couldn’t accomplish this on his own, something was up about this. Maybe he’s a decent fighter, but his men couldn’t take down a beast like this. And knowing Hirutani he could have just watched as his men attacked a dragon. And not only that, but the dragon seemed smarter than to just attack random people. No, he’s done something shady here. But at least Serenity is going to be safe.

He grabbed a shovel and as soon as Hirutani went to go bully some others, he came around to look at the dragon. The Red-Eyes Black Dragon, that is what he had to be. He didn’t imagine it, it was here, right in front of him. He looked at Red-Eyes, with all of the chains weighing the poor creature down, covered in wounds. And then the dragon moved it’s head to look at him in his eyes. Instantly, Joey was overwhelmed by a sense of sorrow, tears immediately sprung to his eyes. This wasn’t right, he knew this was  _ wrong _ . It should be free, not just sat down for the lamb for the slaughter. Seeing this, it was like seeing his heart, his very soul made mockery of and shown for all to see. He needed to do something.

Joey blinked and sharply turned away. What is he thinking, there’s no way he could do that! Hirutani has already threatened his sister, he couldn’t risk anything right now. It doesn’t matter what it is, he can’t just put Serenity in danger. He left and tried to put the dragon out of his mind.

* * *

In the darkness, two figures met. They had an arrangement, you see. They both had things that they wanted. And with this, they would be able to achieve it.

Both of these dark figures had greed grip their hearts. A beast of two different forms, but the same beast all the same. One was filled with a greed for gold, the other a greed for power. This beast gripped both of their hearts, drawing them close together. Their plans, sinnister and malicious, are coming together in a dreadful, terrible handshake.

* * *

Joey couldn’t put the dragon out of his mind.

What is his problem right now? This shouldn’t still be bothering him. He’s been under Hirutani for a long time, it’s not like he’s never seen him hurt others, so why is this any different. And for all he knows that dragon is evil or something! It probably steals princesses or some shit. But he can’t get the blasted creature out of his head! He’s been trying to sleep for hours, but nothings been working. 

Maybe it’s not the only thing bothering him. Joey fished out and looked down at the piece of the puzzle where it was tucked away. It was all for nothing, wasn’t it? What is he doing, still thinking about this? It’s not like it’s the worst thing that could happen to the kid. He’d get over it.

But the image flashed in his mind of Yugi practically glowing at just being able to talk about the damn thing. God the dude worked on that thing for eight freaking years. How do you not just give up on that? Whatever he wished for must be real fucking worth it. He felt a pressure weigh on him as the eye on the piece stared back at him.

Great, now he’s feeling guilty about two different things. Perfect. He put his head in his hands and groaned. Why can’t he just leave this alone! Why does thinking about either of those two in pain without it hurting him like this!

Ugh, fuck it. Screw the consequences, he has to do something. What good will thinking about it do. Nothing that’s what. Quietly as he could, he grabbed his boots, sword, and shield. And headed out of the tent, careful not to wake anyone up. But as soon as he reached the tent, an arm reached out and grabbed him.

“Dude. What are you  _ doing?”  _ Tristan sharply whispered through his teeth.

“Well, I’m just going to kinda go out there, and free the dragon.”

Tristan’s jaw dropped and he stared at Joey dumbfounded, “Are you kidding me? What bone-head line of thinking made you think you should do that?”

Joey shrugged, “Feels right.”

“It feels right! Dude are you nuts! Hirutani will have you executed for this! If the dragon doesn’t eat you!””

Joey shook off Tristan, “Look, this is just something that I have to do. Are you going to help or what?”

Tristan took a step back into the darkness of the tent. “No.”   


“What do you mean no?”

“I’m not going to help you with a suicide mission! You might be willing to risk your life over some  _ thing _ , but I’m not! I like being alive!”

“Tristan-”

“Sorry, but I’m not helping you with this Joey. I’m going back to sleep. You should too.” Tristan headed back into the tent, and didn’t look back.

Joey took a deep breath, and then headed towards the dragon. He quickly knocked out the guards surrounding the dragon, and got to work. He used his sword as leverage, and forced the chains away from where they had been pegged into the ground. As he got through a few, the dragon started to twist and turn, hearing Joey work on the chains.

He hurried around to the dragon’s face. “Hey, hey, it’s just me, I’m gonna help you here, alright? Is that alright?” The dragon raised its head and stared at him, before nodding his head in approval and lowering it back down. 

Joey made quick work of the other chains, freeing them all. While doing this, he felt his heartbreaking as he was able to get a good look at all of the wounds the poor thing had. It’s body was littered all over with wounds of all kinds. Knowing Hirutani, they weren't all from the battle. He tried to put out of his mind as he worked. 

After getting most of the chains undone, he went around to muzzle. He cut the straps that were holding his jaw shut as carefully as he could. Red-Eyes stayed still, but watched Joey with a stern gaze. Then he cut the last strap. The dragon nodded his head at Joey. Then, it expanded its wings. The few chains that were still fastened to the ground were pushed to their limits, and with a loud clang they snapped, as if the shackles of steel were nothing but pieces of twine. The wings shot out, blocking out the light from the night sky. Darkness enveloped Joey, the only thing he could see were the blood colored-eyes. The head leaned closer and breathed from it’s nostrils warm air onto him. The air rushed over his body, and it felt as if there was a great power that was awakening inside of him. Fire was alight in his veins, a new life was instilled within him. It washed over him, the power of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

Then a great burst of wind came, and Joey covered his eyes. Then the dragon was just… gone.

“Well,” Joey looked over at the wreckage of the chains. “That probably wasn’t quiet enough. Well, one more thing to do, I just hope I can find him. Ow!” His hand flew to his neck and felt something small and narrow. He pulled it out and revealed a dart. “Well… shit.” His eyes scanned around, but it was already so dark, he couldn’t spot anything and his vision was already dimming. He gripped the hilt of his sword, but then his limbs stopped listening, and he dropped to the ground. The last thing that he felt before losing consciousness is an impossibly large arm throwing his body over its shoulder. 

* * *

It was late, far past when he should be asleep, and Yugi was working on his puzzle. It was giving him at least something to do as he worried. It was getting worse. Grandpa still didn’t know, but Ushio was getting more and more insistent. He didn’t know how much longer he could avoid him. But they don’t have the money. How on Earth could they? It's not as if they’re able to actually make a profit banished to the middle of nowhere. 

It’s not as if he asked Ushio to protect them. He just showed up one day and just demanded that he’s protecting them and he should pay them. With what exactly! It hasn’t even been that long, yet he’s still here acting all weird.

But what is he actually supposed to do? It’s not like he is capable of fighting anyone, let alone someone like Ushio. He’s got some magic sure, but it’s not like it’s powerful or anything. He makes games, it’s not as if that is all powerful magic or anything! There’s nothing that he can do but just hope it goes away.

He should tell Grandpa, shouldn’t he. But he didn’t want to worry him about this! He’s got enough on his mind, he doesn’t have to deal with all of this. He’ll figure something out. Eventually. 

Yugi sighed and let his hands rest on the table. That’s not all that was bothering him, and he knew it. He just hasn’t felt this lonely in a long time. Probably since Téa last visited, which was a long time ago. And he gets it, he does! Even if she doesn’t mind seeing her childhood friend every once in a while, it’s not exactly the most important thing in the world.

But after yesterday, being around Tristan and especially Joey just had felt so right to him. He was more whole, more complete. He didn’t realize how lonely he was. But suddenly he had someone who he could talk to. Someone that would actually listen to him, it was so nice to just be around others. But now they were gone. It was easier to pretend that he’s not lonely when nobody is ever around.

As he was thinking all of this, his hands were putting the puzzle together, almost without thinking about it. But for some reason, it seemed to be working better than ever before! Just twist this piece in there, and then he can slide another piece in there! For the first time, Yugi could actually tell what shape the puzzle was supposed to be. It was some kind of pyramid, but what about this loop part of it? Is it a pendant? Something else? It was actually coming together! This piece fit in here, and if he pushed this piece to the left a space that opened up for another piece. Piece by piece, he was actually putting it together! There, and then that piece, and then here, and then yes! This is it, it’s done! He just need one more piece-

Nothing. His hand was in the box and he grabbed the empty air. There was nothing there! Why wasn’t there anything there? He needed to be able to complete the puzzle! If he didn’t then his wish wouldn’t come true, and if his wish didn’t come through...

He needed to find that piece! Yugi tore through the room, searched each and every drawer, turned over furniture, upturned the bed, removed every single book from the bookshelf. Absolutely nothing. When he couldn’t find it he went to the tent that he did all his work in, and searched all over again. Tables were cleared, bookshelves were emptied, the floor searched. But nothing, he couldn’t find it. 

Tears sprung to his eyes. No, no this couldn’t be happening to him. There must be something that he’s missing. Could he have dropped somewhere? Maybe he never even had it? Did it ever even make its way in his grandpa’s hands? No, no he can’t believe that. He’s going to find it. He has to, he couldn’t even think of the implication that he won’t be able to finish the puzzle. He ran back to the tent, grabbed his cloak, his staff, and cast a light charm and charged into the woods.

He ran and ran through the woods, praying that he could find the piece somehow. But no matter how hard he looked, Yugi still couldn’t find the piece. Yet, he kept looking, more and more desperately, until a regrettably familiar face suddenly appeared before him.

“Yugi,” Ushio leaned down and grinned at him. “I was just looking for you. I have a surprise for you. Come with me, little Yugi.” Ushio was almost singing the words, as he put his large hand on Yugi’s back and brought him forward.

Yugi  _ really _ didn’t want to go, he just wanted to find the puzzle piece. But he knew that he couldn’t really refuse him, so he followed him. But he didn’t really think whatever Ushio wanted to show him would really be that big of a deal. He never expected to see Joey, beaten and bloodied, struggling to breathe. 

“Wha-what is this?”   


Ushio gave a sick smile. “Oh, it’s just my job, Yugi. I protect you from bullies like this one.”   


Yugi could only just stare in horror at the scene in front of him, as Joey sat up and coughed up blood. “Yugi, you bastard,” Joey snarled at him. “You did this? I trusted you, you traitor.”

“Shut up!” broke in Ushio. He leaned forwards as if to kick him, and that brought Yugi out of his stupor. 

“Stop! He’s not a bully, don't do this! I never asked for this!”   


“No? I wouldn’t be so sure about that, little Yugi.” Ushio nodded to the ground where a golden eye stared back up at him. The missing piece of his puzzle. “I don’t know about you, but I consider thieves to be bullies, wouldn’t you? Now, watch as I dish out his punishment.” Then he swiftly kicked Joey in the gut, and the air flew flung his lungs. 

“No, stop!” Yugi threw himself between Ushio and Joey, and spread his arms wide to try to stop Joey from getting hurt. “He doesn’t deserve this! If you’re going to hurt someone, hurt me!” 

Yugi heard a soft, shocked “Yugi” but couldn’t think about it, Ushio’s foot flew out and knocked Yugi to the ground. Then he felt himself being picked up off the ground before his face exploded with pain. He kept feeling pain all across his body again and again.

“Huh. Not a very good protector are you.” Yugi forced open his eyes to see Ushio sneering at him. “Next time, it’ll be a bit more painful.” With this Ushio took out a knife, the blade sharp and cruel. He licked the knife sinisterly, and then burst out laughing. “Bring me the money Yugi, or I get to have some fun with you! Not to mention my friend visiting your little home!” He left still laughing, fading back into the shadows.

Yugi despair wash over him. What was he supposed to do? He doesn’t have the money, but he doesn’t want to die! He tried to stand up, but his legs collapsed beneath him. Darkness closed in on his vision. The last thing he felt was a hand on his back.

* * *

Joey couldn’t stay. As much as he needed to, he couldn’t stay. It was the least he could do to help to bring him back to his gramps, especially after all Yugi did. He actually stood up for him. Even after he knew that he stole from him. Why would he do that? The way that Yugi put his body between them, there’s no way he could have actually stopped him, he had to know that. But yet he did, he did try to help him. Despite everything, he tried to help a loser like him. 

But he shouldn’t stay. He can’t stay, Yugi must hate him for all of this. There’s no way that Yugi would want him around. But he had a bad feeling about all of this. Ushio wasn’t working alone here. Besides, he owes Yugi. He can at least hang around the edge of the grounds until Ushio makes his move.

* * *

Yugi awoke to being in pain. He opened his eyes only to harshly close them against the harsh light. He groaned, feeling every place where he was punched. He went to sit up only to be pushed back down. He looked up to see his grandpa pushing him back down.

“Grandpa?”

“Hush Yugi, it’ll be alright.” He pulled a blanket over him. “Just rest, it’ll be alright.”

“But I thought- how did I get back here?” He was just in the forest right? Why was he, what happened?

“Your friend brought you back, carried you all the way back here.” He gave Yugi a smile. “He’s a good lad, that boy.”

Yugi eyes went wide at that. “Joey! Is he alright, he was hurt! I need to-”

“You need rest Yugi. He’s fine, just outside.” He brushed his bangs away and kissed Yugi on the forehead. “I’ll check on you soon.”

His grandpa walked out of the tent, his shadow lingering on the fabric of the doorway of the tent. He hesitated there for a while, thinking deeply to himself. But then his shadow disappeared.

Yugi sat up, trying to stand up. He immediately groaned and sat back down. “Oh, that was a mistake.” He glanced around his tent, looking for something that could help him up. But then he saw something glint at him, and then did a double take towards it. That… that’s the missing piece of his puzzle! It’s sitting right there, just a little side table next to his near-complete puzzle! It’s so easy! He scooted himself the best as he could towards the puzzle, and grabbed it and the piece. He held the piece and took a breath. This was it, his puzzle that he worked so hard to complete, his dreams that he had dreamed for so long, it was finally going to be completed. It was right there.

He slid the piece in. 

_ Click _ .

The click of the gold reverberated through the tent. For a moment, there was silence. Yugi held the completed puzzle in his hand, as it rested there in its completed form. And then without warning, it exploded. Streams of darkness shot out from it, encasing the tent in complete darkness, stifling any light. The puzzle floated up from Yugi’s hand, radiating a powerful and ancient energy. And then floating in the darkness, a single eye opened. Made of light, it stared at Yugi, judging his very soul. All Yugi could see was that solitary and then a not quite right smile that stretched wider than it should.

And then… darkness. 

* * *

Joey was still waiting in the woods, when he saw them. Hirutani was leading a small gang of thugs towards the tents. He was going to hurt Yugi and his grandpa. Joey was expecting Ushio, but not Hirutani. Made sense, there was no way that Hirutani was smart enough to catch a dragon. They couldn’t get to Yugi, he won’t let them. He owes Yugi at least that much.

Hurnati continued to walk towards the set of tents, but then he stopped. He quickly raised his shield, and sparks flew as the shield met the sword. Joey jumped back and rolled out of Hirutani, and positioned himself for a fight. “Hey boss.”

Hirutani looked at him, stone faced, and then started chuckling. Those chuckles quickly erupted into hysterical laughter, doubling over on himself. He howled with laughter, screeching to the sky. Joey cocked an eyebrow, but stayed in position. “Joey! You have got to be fucking kidding me! You’re really sticking out for that kid? I know you’re a treacherous sewer-rat, but you stick yourself out like this for some nobody.”

“That was my mistake Hirutani. But at least I’m not a coward like you.” Joey was taking a risk by saying this, but it might be better to single Hirutani out. He’d normally take every one of them out, but he didn’t want to risk putting Yugi in any danger.

All signs of laughter instantly vanished from Hirutani’s face. His lips formed into a snarl. He spoke, slow and measured. “I. Am Not. A Coward.”

“No?” Joey put the hilt into the ground and leaned on the sword. “I didn’t shoot someone with a dart in the middle of the night or hide behind your lakeys.”

“I’m not hiding!”   


“Then face me yourself! You and me, no help from anyone else.”

Hirutani chuckled and pulled out his sword. A massive thing, built for demolishing opponents and crushing skulls. “You’ll regret that Wheeler.”

With that, Hirutani swung his sword down at Joey, and the fight began.

* * *

Ushio was waiting just off of the Muto’s place, he could still see a glow coming from all their lights. He just had to wait until Hirutani came back with his pay. Just a little while longer, and he’d have the easiest score of his life.

“Ushio.”

The voice reverberated through the woods. It sounded eerily familiar but yet not. He turned around to see someone who has the most recognizable silhouette he’s ever met.

“Yugi!” His voice was filled with disbelief as he looked at Yugi. No, this couldn’t be him. Sure it may look like Yugi, but that’s just not possible. He looked way too confident to possibly be Yugi. Plus there was some sort of… presence to him. There’s no way it could be him. It has to be someone else.

“Ushio.” A twisted, sadistic smile twisted onto the face of the stranger. “Let’s play a game.”

* * *

Sparks flew as Hirutani and Joey battled. Hirutani may have had more brute strength than Joey, but Joey was the better fighter. He clearly saw more battle, and Hirutani hasn’t actually fought in a long time. They were fairly evenly matched, but Joey was tiring him out, and pushing him until he would break. Joey danced as they battled, an art all on it’s own, and was only a few strokes from claiming victory.

But Hirutani is nothing but a cheater.

He grabbed a vial off of his belt, and crushed it in his hand. He quickly acted and threw the glass shards into Joey’s eyes.

“AHH!” Joey screamed from the pain, and tried to open his eyes again, but pain seared through him. Okay fine, he can’t see. Sure, whatever he can still-

_ Swish- _

Joey quickly raised his shield to deflect the sword headed for his skull. Pain erupted into his arm as he deflected a blow that he couldn’t see. Right, right the fight, gotta focus on the fight. Joey tried to hold Hirutani off, but he was losing and losing badly. He was pinned against a tree. He felt the sword fly from his hand, he was defenseless.

But then he felt a thump on the tree he was leaning against. Instead of taking the finishing blow, Hirutani was gloating, taking his sweet time to gloat. That means he must be leaning down to him. This was his chance.

First, he shoved his shield into Hirutani’s face, making him back off. Then Joey let his fist fly, hitting him square in the jaw with a satisfactory thud. A few seconds later there was a louder thud, as Hirutani fell unconscious on the floor.

Joey stood victorious over Hirutani’s unconscious body. “That’s for trying to hurt my friend asshole.”

He could hear the goons scampering off in the distance. Good. Now he just needs to get back to the Mutos. Blind. Just great, perfect. He got so turned around during the fight, he didn’t know what he was going to do. He sighed, and started to head in a direction, hoping that it might just be right.

But then he heard it. Huge flaps of wings sounded from overhead, and the wind rushed around him as a great beast landed in front of him. Fear gripped his heart, but then released as feelings of familiarity and home rushed into him. He smiled and placed his hand on the creature's neck. “Hey Red-Eyes.”

Red-Eyes breathed into him again, just like before. He blinked again, and the pain was gone. He slowly opened his eyes, and he could see again, the green of the trees, the stars in the sky, and the massive dragon kneeling before him, as if he was waiting for Joey to do something. 

“Do you want me to get on ya?”

The dragon nodded, looking impatient. 

“Alright.” Joey said, climbing over the spikes. “Just give me a sec to get comfortable and- AAAAAAAAAAAAA”

Just like that they were up in the air, with Joey screaming and desperately clinging to his back. They flew off in the distance, leaving the stars behind them. 

* * *

“A game? What kind of game?” Ushio sneered, hand moving towards his knife.

“A game of risk and reward, Ushio. I have the money right here.” Yugi reached down into a pocket and grabbed a large bag filled with what sounded like the clinking of coins. “Not only that, but triple the money. If that is, you’re willing to play. But we will need that knife of yours.” Yugi’s blood-red eyes traveled down to where the knife was hidden. It was unnerving, the way his eyes seemed to pierce through Ushio. 

He slowly drew his blade. “What do you need this for?”

Yugi pulled out sheets of paper. “We’ll use these. We’ll place them on our hands. They represent the gold. We’ll pierce the sheets with the knives, but the sheets are under our hands. Unless you don’t want the gold?” 

Yugi was challenging Ushio, catching him off guard. But he looked at the coins, jingling in his hands. He has more guts that this little squirt could ever hope to have. He threw the knife to him, and Yugi caught it out of the air and smiled. 

He placed the paper on his hand, and pierced the sheets with the knife, all while his eyes never left Ushio. “Oh, only a few pieces. I don’t want to hurt my hand.” His smile stretched a bit too far, and didn’t reach his eyes. 

Ushio snatched the paper and the knife. He thrust downward, then brought it back up laughing. “Look at all the paper I got Yugi! I’m gonna get the rest of the gold and you’ll be left with squat! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

They continued in this fashion; Yugi grabbing only two or three sheets, Ushio grabbing more and more as they go. Yugi remained calm, but Ushio became more and more erratic. He was viciously attacking the paper, his arm seemingly moving on its own. If he kept going like this, he would soon stab his hand.

Ushio was so obsessed with his arm, he didn’t notice the shadows gathering around Yugi. The slithered up towards Ushio, gripping him as greed continued to grip his heart. Ushio’s grip tightened on the knife. There was only one way that he could see that would allow him to get the gold and not lose his hand. He made to plunge the twisted blade straight into the heart of Yugi. 

But the shadows moved, gripping his arm in a vice. He was stuck and couldn’t move a single muscle. Yugi let out a laugh, deep and ethereal. He spoke with an ancient power as a smile took over his face, and an eye glowed bright on his forehead. “Your heart is filled with greed Ushio. You trample on anyone in your path just to gain a handful of gold. Only when the filth leaves your heart will you be freed.” He pointed directly at Ushio and smiled, “ _ Yami no Game _ !”

Yugi disappeared from sight, seemingly melting back into the shadows. The only sign that he was there was the manic laughter of Ushio, and the screams of “Mine! Mine!” as a thrashed around the ground. He gathered leaves together and pulled them close to his chest. “Mine! The money is all mine! HAHAHAHAHA!” 

* * *

Joey and Red-Eyes landed in the grounds of the Muto’s place. He got off the back of the dragon, and then with a one massive flap of its wings, he was gone, disappeared into the night sky. 

“Okay then, well that happened. Sure, alright I’m buds with a dragon. Ok that’s new.” He looked around to see someone appear out of the darkness. The figure wavered and pitched forward.

“Yugi!” Joey ran forward and caught him in his arms. “Yugi bud, are you alright!”

Yugi blinked at him, and a haze left his eyes. “Joey?”   


“Yeah bud it’s me. Are you alright? How did you even get out here?”   


Yugi stood back on his feet, seemingly steady. His hands shook as he grabbed his puzzle. “I’m- I’m not sure. Joey, I think that I’m being po-possesed.” He looked up and tears were in his eyes. “And- and he hurt someone. I never wanted anyone to get hurt!”   


Joey looked at Yugi, and couldn’t bear to see him hurt like this. He sighed and opened up his arms. “Ok, bring it in.”

Yugi flung himself into Joey’s arms and burst into sobs. His body shook as he cried into Joey’s shoulder. He gripped tightly around Joey, as if he was his lifeline. They stood there for a while, with Yugi clinging close to Joey. Yugi eventually backed off of Joey. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It’s alright Yug.” He looked toward the horizon to where the sun was rising. “Don’t worry about it, it’s cool.”

Yugi sunk down to his knees. “Oh what am I going to do?”   


“Whatever it is, we’ll do it together.”   


Yugi sniffled and looked up at Joey. “What?”

Joey still was looking at the horizon instead of looking down at Yugi. “I’m not good at being a friend. I’m actually real shitty at that. But for you Yugi, I’m gonna try. I’m not gonna leave you for this. No matter what happens, I’m going to be here, to protect you.”

“But why? Why do you want to help me with all this?”

“We’re friends now, Yug. I can’t just leave you.” He turned to look at Yugi and smiled. “You’re going to be stuck with me. We'll get through this together. No matter what.”

A smile, brighter than the sun, burst across Yugi’s face. He launched himself at Joey laughing as he hugged his friend.

As time passed, they were pushed to extremes, and their friendship was tested. But it always preserved. This is the stuff of legends, more powerful than any type of magic. It all began here, the strongest friendship ever to come to form, with the knight who learned to open his heart up and the sorcerer who longed for a friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so, so, so much for reading this! This is the first bigbang I have ever written and I am very proud of the end result. I hope everyone enjoyed reading this story! Oh and please check out the artist work, their art is so very good and I am so happy I was able to work with them. I'll link the post once it is posted! 
> 
> Also my tumblr is marvelfangeek09 if you want to talk to me!
> 
> Edit: Here's the art! https://brushstrokes-art.tumblr.com/post/626552405203517440/heeeeeeeeres-art-based-on-the-knight-and-the


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